Rubrics allow you to frame the requirements of a graded assignment in detail and with clarity. Students with a rubric available know exactly what is required of them for a particular discussion or assignment, which is especially important in a remote teaching situation.
Grading rubrics also help when there are multiple graders or GSI graders in a course. A well-written grading rubric encourages a consistency in grading, in large classes. If you use a rubric, then everyone involved understands expectations for the activity and how you intend graders to score their work.
Here is an example of a grading rubric for a discussion activity.
Remote Discussion Post Rubric
| Rating | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Promptness and Initiative | Does not respond to postings, rarely participates freely | Responds to most postings several days after initial discussion, limited initiative | Responds to most postings within 24 hours, requires occasional prompting to post | Consistently responds to postings in less than 24 hours, demonstrates good self initiative |
| Delivery of Post | Poor spelling and grammar in most posts, posts appear hasty | Errors in spelling and grammar in several posts | Few grammatical or spelling errors are noted in posts | Consistently uses grammatically correct posts with rare misspellings |
| Relevance of Post | Posts topics which do not relate to the discussion content, makes short or irrelevant remarks | Occasionally posts off topic, most posts are short in length and offer no further insight into the topic | Frequently posts topics that are related to discussion content, prompts further discussion of topic | Consistently posts topics related to discussion topic, cites additional references to the topic |
| Expression Within Post | Does not clearly express opinions or ideas, no connection to the topic | Unclear connection to the topic, minimal expression of opinions or ideas | Opinions and ideas are stated clearly with occasional lack of connection to the topic | Expresses opinions and ideas in a clear, concise manner with connection to the topic |
| Contribution to the Learning Community | Does not make an effort to participate in learning community as it develops, seems indifferent | Occasionally makes meaningful reflection on the group’s efforts; marginal effort to become involved with the group | Frequently attempts to direct the discussion and to present relevant viewpoints for consideration by the group, interacts freely | Aware of needs of community, frequently attempts to motivate the group discussion, presents creative approaches to the topic |
While rubrics can be perfectly effective as simple text documents, Canvas does provide a rubric-building tool. Canvas rubrics can be attached to any graded activity, and will then appear both to students, when viewing the assignment, and also in the Speedgrader interface. Within speedgrader, the rubric grid will be clickable, to select the achievement level for each criterion row, and the points you assigned that level will be automatically added up and entered in the grade field.
You can see detailed instructions on how to create a Canvas rubric in the Canvas Guides.
For assistance with any form of grading rubrics, please feel free to contact the Learning and Teaching Technology Consultants at [email protected].
